Connecticut western news., 1887-06-01
THE USEFUL SAW.
The Origin Buried in the Mists
 of Antiquity.
Now An Instrument of Great Utility in
 the Industrial World.

the Industrial World.
 The Greeks attributed the invention of the saw to the accidental finding of the jaw bono of snake by Talus, who used it to cut throu yh a small piece of wood. Being slave and finding this jaw bone eased his labor, he made a saw of iron and thus shaped for man new and most valuable tool But the idea of the saw, gould be easily suggested to primitive man in different scctioAs ss6f the globe by accidental notching spf metals, or the serrated bones of fish. It is said the original inhabitants of Ma deira found ready made saw in the back bone of fish. There is saw-fy with saws in its tail, which it uses to saw stems, leaves and fruit to make re- ceptacles for its eggs.
 In ancient saws the teeth were so ar- ranged that the cut was made by pulling instead of pushing, and the teeth set so that ten or dozen in succession slanted one way and then ten or more were slanted in the other instead of each al- ternate tooth.
 The Greeks used cross cut saws for two men, also saws for cutting marble into slabs; and they had tubular saw for hollowing out marble bath tub similar in principle to the modern inn plement. In the burned city of Hercu- laneum picture was uncovered repre- senting two Genii saving piece of wood on carpenters bench not unlike the style now in use and using saw with wooden frame similar to those employed, and the frame is frightened with rope and stick just as wood-saw- yers have it, and was doubtless as fa- miliar to the Romans as it is to us.
 The first trace of saw-mill in Ger many is of one at Augsburg in tho year 1887, and there are now two near that city which are known to have existed since 1417. Before tho invention of the saw-mlll boards and blanks were split with wedges and hcwn smooth by the axe. Peter the Great of Russia states he had great difficulty in inducing the timber cutters of his empire to discon- tinue this method, and it is still resorted to where the tools of civilization are not at hand. In Norway, a country of forests, there was not one saw-mill be- fore 1880, and tho English bitterly op- posed the introduction of the saw-mill. In 1868, Hollander erected one near London, but the wood-cutters and sawyers would not permit it to continue. No serious attempt to erect a | saw-mill in England was again made until 17e7, when a large English lumber dealer built saw-mill to be worked by wind. No sooner was it complete than the sawycrs assembled in large numbers and demolished it. The Government compensated the owner and large num- Der of the rioters were punished. 4 new mill speedily replaced the destroyed one and was success. Now, they have saws in Great Britain SO fine as to cut diamonds, and circular saws nine feet 1T diameter, while the United States have distanced the English and almost reached perfection in saw mill machinery ane wood shaping machines and tools.
 I An immense amount of lumber i wasted in sawdu:t, but this wastag' even is to be practically stopped by ma chinery.
 Dr. H. S. Smith, of Brooklyn, N. Y. the inventor of the improved veneer cut ting machine, has applied the principl of that machine to one for cutting log into timber. One of the machine adopted for cutting logs four feet lon. and averaging two feet in diameter, vii cut in one day 39, 500 feet of inch, 60, oo feet of half-inch, or 80, 900 feet of quar- ter-inch lumber. The operation of cut ting renders smooth the surface of tn board, as if planed, so that the machin is combined substitute for saving an' blaming. The inventor shows barre slaves made from lumber manufacture by hls machine and cla ms that it wi turn out 4, 500 slaves per 1, ,000 feet in stead of the 1,s00 other machines pro duce. It will revolutionizc box an small wood manufacturing. - The EartE